No this is not a new post by the Civilian …
Speaker David Carter has confirmed three months worth of phone records for Fairfax journalist Andrea Vance were handed over to a ministerial inquiry.
Carter today apologised to Vance and Fairfax group executive editor Paul Thompson and acknowledged answers given last week in response to questions about the journalist’s phone records were wrong.
In response to written questions last week, Carter said a request from investigator David Henry for Vance’s phone records had been declined.
Henry had been called in by Prime Minister John Key to investigate an unauthorised leak to Vance of a report on the Government Communications Security Bureau.
It has previously been confirmed that Henry was provided with electronic records tracking Vance’s movements in the Parliamentary complex.
Carter said today he became aware on Friday his answer in response to questions about Vance’s phone records was wrong.
Three months worth of phone records had “inadvertently” been supplied to Henry by Parliamentary Service during the course of his investigations.
The information had been collated by parliamentary contractor Datacom.
Henry immediately returned the records without viewing them and made it clear he had neither sought nor wanted them.
Carter confirmed, however, that Henry had sought phone records detailing which government ministers had phoned Vance.
So let’s get this straight. Henry asked for the phone records, the information was collated and handed to him “inadvertently”, he then returned them without viewing them and he is now saying that he never asked for them, and Carter says that Parliamentary Services didn’t but did hand the information over to Henry. Talk about Kafkaesque.
And why did Carter wait until today to announce all of this? He found out about this last Friday.
Parliament should be very interesting this afternoon.
I also wrote a post on this – instead of posting it separately I will append it below – r0b
Last week Speaker David Carter denied passing on details of Journalist Andrea Vance’s phone records to the Henry enquiry:
Leak probe sought reporter’s phone log
In response to questions from Green Party co-leader Russel Norman, Speaker David Carter confirmed yesterday that the Henry inquiry also asked for information relating to internal calls made to and from Vance’s office phone, as well as her building access data.
The phone line is paid for by Fairfax Media, the publisher of The Dominion Post.
Mr Carter said the request was declined but confirmed that Parliamentary Service handed over Vance’s swipe-card access records.
Carter now admits that the records were in fact passed over:
Phone records given to inquiry
Three months worth of phone records for Fairfax journalist Andrea Vance were handed over to a ministerial inquiry, Parliament’s Speaker David Carter has confirmed.
Carter today apologised to Vance and Fairfax group executive editor Paul Thompson and acknowledged answers given last week denying Vance’s phone records had been handed over were wrong.
In a statement issued shortly after his apology, Carter said the release of Vance’s phone records was “completely unacceptable”.
Looks like we’ve been lied to doesn’t it. Carter pleads incompetence instead:
Carter said today he became aware on Friday his answer in response to questions about Vance’s phone records was wrong. Three months of phone records had “inadvertently” been supplied to Henry by Parliamentary Service during the course of his investigations. The information had been collated by parliamentary contractors Datacom.
Henry immediately returned the records without viewing them and made it clear he had neither sought nor wanted them, Carter said.
“I stress that the David Henry inquiry never requested this information and recorded that fact immediately the information was received. I am further advised that this information was not used by the inquiry.”
Carter confirmed, however, that Henry had sought phone records detailing which government ministers had phoned Vance.
How does anyone “inadvertently” pass over three months worth of phone records? Looks and smells like bullshit.
The statement about what Henry sought is also inconsistent with what Carter says in the first quoted piece: “asked for information relating to internal calls made to and from Vance’s office phone”.
Journalists who are currently up in arms on Twitter might like to consider more actively opposing the government’s plans to extend its spying activities to the rest of us. Peter Dunne might like to reconsider whether he really wants to lend his one-vote majority to this kind of surveillance state.
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